Monday, 25 May 2026
Palestinians line up for donated food at a distribution center in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip. AP PHOTO
Occupation forces open fire, killing over 20 in search of food in Gaza
DEIR AL-BALAH — At least 23 Palestinians seeking food were killed Sunday by occupation forces in the Gaza Strip, according to hospital staff and eyewitnesses. They described chaotic scenes as gunfire erupted amid desperate crowds gathering at aid distribution sites, with the death toll from malnutrition on the rise, the Associated Press reported.
Desperation continues to mount in Gaza, home to more than 2 million Palestinians. Humanitarian experts warn of imminent famine due to Israel’s blockade and years-long military campaign.
Yousef Abed, one of those making his way to an aid center, recalled coming under what he described as random gunfire, seeing at least three people around him lying wounded and bleeding.
“I couldn’t help them because bullets were flying,” he said.
Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza reported receiving bodies from several distribution points Sunday, including eight from Teina—located about three kilometers (1.8 miles) from a Khan Younis aid center run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a privately run, U.S. and Israeli-backed contractor that has overseen aid distribution for over two months.
The hospital also took in one body from Shakoush, just north of a separate GHF site in Rafah. Additionally, nine more were reportedly killed by troops near the Morag corridor while awaiting aid trucks at the Israeli border crossing.
Three witnesses told the Associated Press they were seeking food in Teina and Morag when gunfire erupted on the routes to these distribution points, which are in military zones controlled by Israeli forces. They said soldiers fired on crowds advancing toward them.
Hospital staff in central Gaza reported a similar event further north: on Sunday morning, Israeli troops opened fire as Palestinians approached GHF’s fourth and northernmost distribution center.
“Troops tried to stop people from getting closer. They fired and we ran—some were shot,” said Hamza Matter, another aid seeker.
At GHF’s location near the Netzarim corridor, Awda Hospital confirmed at least five killed and 27 wounded.
Eyewitness accounts from across the Gaza Strip detail repeated gunfire incidents near aid distribution points in the past several days, resulting in dozens of Palestinian deaths.
The United Nations reported that from May 27 to July 31, 859 people were killed near GHF-operated sites, with hundreds more fatalities along the paths of UN-led food convoys.
GHF began operating in May after Israel sought alternatives to the UN-administered aid system, which had reliably delivered aid throughout much of the conflict but was accused by Israel of allowing Hamas to divert supplies early in the war.
Israel has not provided evidence of widespread diversion, and the United Nations has denied the allegations.
GHF maintains its armed contractors have limited their actions to using pepper spray or firing warning shots to control crowds, and the Israeli military also claims only warning shots have been used. Both parties assert the reported death tolls are exaggerated.
Neither Israel’s military nor the GHF responded to requests for comment on Sunday’s reported fatalities.
Meanwhile, Gaza’s health ministry announced that six additional Palestinian adults died from malnutrition-related causes in the past 24 hours—bringing the total to 82 adult deaths in the past five weeks, since the ministry began tracking adult fatalities in late June.
Since the start of the war in 2023, 93 children have also died from malnutrition-related causes, according to the ministry.